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Saturday, June 8, 2013

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

As
You Sow, So Shall You Reap

In the reign of caliph Haroon-ur-Rasheed, there lived a clever
barber in Baghdad. He was a high-class barber and had many wealthy
men and courtiers among his customers. One day a poor wood seller
brought him a load of fuel wood. He offered him a dinar for the
wood; the wood seller demanded three. After a long haggling the
barber said, “Here are two for all the wood you have on
your donkey’s back. Take or leave it, my dear man. I can’t
pay more.” The wood seller agreed.
The barber asked his servant to unload the wood and also the wooden
saddle. The wood seller protested and said that the saddle was
no part of the fuel wood. But the barber replied, “Old man!
I have paid for all the wood on the donkeys back. The saddle is
made of wood and it is there on the donkey’s back.”
So saying he seized the saddle and ordered his servants to throw
the wood seller in the street.
The wood seller went to the Caliph. The Caliph could not help
him because the terms of the bargain favoured the barber. But
he did offer the poor man a piece of good advice.
The next day, the wood seller went to the barber’s shop
and asked him to cut and shave him and his friend. He offered
to pay two dinars for it. The barber cut the hair of the wood
seller and then told him to bring his friend. The wood seller
went out and brought his donkey. The barber flew into a rage,
“How dare you play a silly joke on me? I, the barber to
the King’s courtiers, shave your donkey! Get out of here,
before I break your skull,” he said.
The wood seller went to the Caliph once again. The Caliph called
the barber before him. After listening to the statements of the
parties, the Caliph pronounced: “The wood seller is in the
right. If the saddle of the donkey can be a part of the fuel wood,
the donkey can very well be a man’s companion and friend.”
Then he ordered the barber to shave the donkey in the presence
of all the courtiers. The barber had to do this while all the
people laughed at him.